


A Name That Once Meant Something

by Alexander_L



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst and Feels, Childhood Memories, Ferdinand von Aegir's family, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28765680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexander_L/pseuds/Alexander_L
Summary: Ferdinand finds Aegir manor in ruins despite Hubert's promises to protect his family and is forced to face what it means to be a von Aegir now.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59





	A Name That Once Meant Something

**Author's Note:**

> This story happened on an impulse because I was reminded of an album I love and of a song on it about growing up.
> 
> _I set out to rule the world  
>  With only a paper shield and a wooden sword  
> No mountain dare stand in my way  
> Even the oceans tremble in my wake_
> 
> _Now I bear little resemblance to the king I once was  
>  I bear little resemblance to the king I could become  
> Maybe paper is paper, maybe kids will be kids  
> Lord, I want to remember how to feel like I did_
> 
> \- East, Sleeping at Last

“You said my family would be spared,” Ferdinand whispered, gazing at the blood-spattered painting on the wall, half-burnt and ripped in places. “You promised.”

“And your mother and sister are safe,” Hubert said in a tone of confusion, as if he could not fathom why the wreckage around them mattered. 

Ferdinand did not have the presence of mind to explain to him why it did.

Tearing his eyes away from the painting, he stepped through the rubble and disarray towards the eastern side of the manor where the kitchen and its garden was. In the hall he was forced to step over the body of a servant boy who had obviously been dead for some time. He would bury him later in a grave fit for a noble. The boy deserved better than to be killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He broke into a run as he neared the kitchen, a feeling clawing up in his throat that threatened to choke him if he spent a moment longer in the destroyed manor house. Shoving open the door to the garden, he raced out into it and slowed to a stop only once he had reached the far side where the tomato trellises had been. Now they were heaps of trodden wire.

His heart was pounding and he swallowed back the panic, looking around at the garden. It was his favorite place in the entire estate other than the stables. Miss Mariah had always let him hide in it to escape his father since Duke Aegir would never have dreamt of looking for him there, puttering around with their kitchen manager.

He had been very good at gathering strawberries, she had said. Always knew which ones were ripe and how to pick them without damaging the delicate plants. And when he finally hit his growth spurt and grew tall enough to fit his gangly legs he was quite useful at harvesting the fruit from trees. Except for the time he was a little too zealous and fell out of their tallest tree, breaking his arm.

Ferdinand’s thoughts drew him over to the neat row of fruit trees and he walked through them in a daze until he stumbled over a fallen branch. Slowly, he bent down and picked it up.

Due to her fragile constitution, it had been decided at a young age that little Phoebe would never go to Garreg Mach like her big brother, and the summer before Ferdinand left she had been desolate. In an effort to draw her out of her room where she hid herself away, he would take her to the garden on the promise of sneaking some sun-warmed strawberries. Her skinny arms could not bear a training sword so he gave her a branch from one of the apple trees and taught her to sword fight, eagerly cheering her on while being careful not to overtire her.

Phoebe would hate the small house hidden away in the heart of Enbarr’s crowded streets that Hubert had spirited her and his mother away to right before the sacking of Aegir manor. She loved the countryside. The family physician said it was very important for her health to take the fresh air as much as her condition allowed.

Her cough would worsen in the smoky city. His mothers spirits would as well and they had always leaned dangerously towards melancholy as it was.

The branch cracked in his hand and Ferdinand realized he had been clutching at it far tighter than he realized. He stared at it for a moment then cast it aside and turned back to the house.

With a cry of frustration, he ran across the garden and through the kitchen, bursting back into the main hall of the manor where he had left Hubert.

“Ferdinand,” Hubert said with wary concern, standing up from the overturned china cabinet he had been sitting on.

“You promised me!” 

“Ferdinand, listen, I-”

Closing the distance between them, Ferdinand grabbed Hubert’s arm and stared up at him furiously. “They have nothing now. Nothing!”

Hubert stiffened and wrenched his arm free. “They will have their lives.”

“This would never have happened if my father had not been stripped of his status. It was the only thing protecting them! Now Phoebe and my mother will have nothing. What can I offer them? I am a soldier, Hubert! That is all! I am nothing anymore too, because thanks to you being a von Aegir is nothing now.”

“They are under my protection,” Hubert replied.

“And can you guarantee it? Can you swear to me that no harm will befall them in Enbarr?”

“Yes, I can,” Hubert said.

Ferdinand stared up at him, struggling for words, hands clenched into fists at his side.

For a long moment silence bound them then Hubert stepped forward and took Ferdinand’s hands, cradling his fists gently and kissing his knuckles. “I swear to you,” he said softly. “I  _ swear _ . I will keep them safe and they will be provided for. And someday when this is over you will have the power to provide for them yourself. You will be a leader in the new world the same as you are now on the battlefield.”

His sincerity was such that Ferdinand almost believed him.

“And if I die in this war?” he asked. “What becomes of them then?”

“Then Phoebe will be the one to carry on the name of von Aegir and shape it a new meaning and legacy. With all she has learned from you, I trust that she will rise to that role well,” Hubert answered.

Ferdinand tried to pull his hands away but Hubert held onto them tighter, staring at him so intently he had no choice but to meet his gaze.

“It is true that I cannot understand the things you have lost here, Ferdinand,” Hubert continued. “But I know that whatever you have lost you will rebuild. And what you build will be greater than anything that came before.”

Lowering his head, Ferdinand rested it on their clasped hands as the tumult within his heart kept him wordless and choked. He felt Hubert’s lips press briefly against his forehead and he closed his eyes to hold tears of anger at bay.

“I must go to Enbarr and see Phoebe,” he finally managed to say, his voice quiet and hoarse.

“We march on Arianrhod in eight days.”

Ferdinand raised his head and opened his eyes. He stepped back and this time Hubert let his hands go.

“We do,” he agreed stiffly. “We must return to Garreg Mach and make our preparations. We have wasted enough time here.”

He turned on his heel and strode away.

“Where are you going?” Hubert asked, catching up to him.

“To the garden shed. I require a shovel.”

Hubert understood and did not ask any further questions. And when Ferdinand emerged from the shed armed with the shovel, he found Hubert standing outside with the body of the servant boy in his arms.

“By the family chapel,” Ferdinand said and Hubert nodded.

As they walked through the garden, Ferdinand’s eyes strayed once more to the apple trees and his chest ached so fiercely it stole his breath away.

Once they were done burying the boy, he returned there one last time to cut a small, sturdy branch from one of the trees. 

“Will you send something to Phoebe from me?” he asked Hubert, unable to look at him as he did for he knew Hubert would only think him foolish.

“Of course,” Hubert said.

Still not meeting his eyes, Ferdinand handed him the branch. “Tell her to keep training and that I will give her more lessons soon.”

To his relief, Hubert took the branch without comment and when they returned to their horses, he tucked it in his saddlebag wrapped in parcel paper.

It was not until the wreckage of Aegir manor was well behind them that Ferdinand could finally look at him again and when he did he saw only love and concern in Hubert’s eyes, not judgment.

“It is just a house,” Ferdinand said.

“It is,” Hubert agreed.

“I will build a new one someday.”

“Indeed.”

“You had better add masonry and carpentry to your diverse range of skills, Hubert. You are going to help me.”

“I will devote myself to the study of it immediately,” Hubert replied dryly and when Ferdinand glanced at him he saw a faint smile on his lips.

The pressure of his anger eased and he took a breath free of it. “I love you,” he murmured, “because I know you will keep your word.”


End file.
